Putting the Pantry Back Together

Slowly, I’ve been able to start putting my pantry back together.

We finished with the walls, trim, and ceiling painting a while ago, but with my days filled with blueberries, figs, applesauce, and cheese making, there hasn’t been much time to set up my pantry again.

You can see that I decided not to replace the old linoleum flooring. I just gave it a good scrub and tossed down a couple of throw rugs.

Below is the corner where the old refrigerator used to be. I added another set of shelves. Dan offered to make me some shelves, but – time and money. I already have these and there is so much else to do this time of year. Shelf building didn’t seem a priority right now.

In the corner where the freezer used to be (below), I put our old kitchen table. I wanted someplace to keep my gallon-size crocks besides the shelves, and to let my cheeses air dry. There’s room underneath for canning jar boxes, and Dan added two simple racks on the wall for hanging things I want to keep handy.

I’ve been wrestling with empty jars and jar boxes forever. I’ve tried a number of systems, but none seem to work well. I’m hoping this will help. How do you all organize your empty jars?

Of course, it’s not just jars and canned goods that are stored in the pantry, it’s herbs, stock-up items, kitchen tools, and cooking utensils I only use occasionally (like the roasting pan for the Thanksgiving turkey), also cheese making and preservation supplies and equipment.

It’s slow going because the setup is different and I want to organize as I put things back. Can’t guarantee it will stay that way, but at least it will start out that way!